


Love & Destiny

by tin2lo



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arranged Marriage, F/M, Family, nox fleuret siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 16:08:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12016290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tin2lo/pseuds/tin2lo
Summary: Everyone had a destiny.  Her older siblings knew of theirs their whole lives.  But for Stella, it took twelve years to truly understand that heavy burden.





	Love & Destiny

**Author's Note:**

> In which Stella from Versus XIII is the youngest Nox Fleuret and is engaged to Noctis instead of Luna.

Stella was eight when she first saw the Prince of Lucis.

The Lucian royalty was visiting Tenebrae so that her mother, Queen Sylva, could heal Prince Noctis’ condition.  In the palace gardens, Stella and her older brother, Ravus, stood behind their mother who stood tall and proud next to King Regis of Lucis.  Because of her positioning, she didn’t have the best view of the Lucian Prince as he entered the gardens.  

Her elder sister, Lunafreya, pushed his wheelchair and it was only then that Stella got a good view of Prince Noctis.  He didn’t seem any older than her.  He looked upon the gardens in wonder and amazement.  He didn’t seem sickly or weak as she had first assumed when her mother said she would heal him.  He was just stuck in a wheelchair.  Perhaps after he was healed, he would play with her.  Perhaps they could be friends.  She didn’t have many friends.  And while Luna was a great sister and companion, she babied Stella far too much to really be fun.

With Stella deep in her thoughts, she didn’t even notice that Noctis was staring at her as well.  When she finally looked up, she caught his eye and quickly turned away.  A light blush gracing her cheeks.  It took a moment, but Stella finally built up the courage to look up again.  When she did, Prince Noctis was still staring at her and with a smile on his face.  Stella smiled back brightly.  It seemed like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Until the first bomb was dropped.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stella was twelve when she first learned about her destiny.  

It had been four years since the attack on Tenebrae.  The Niflheim Empire had tried to kill both royal families but the combined forces of Tenebrae and Lucis managed to stop them.  Despite the Empire’s loss, both Queen Sylva and King Regis knew that peace was now a thing of the past.  Precautions were taken immediately.  Regis and Noctis were taken back to Lucis in the dead of night to better avoid detection.  That was the last time Stella would see Noctis.  She hadn’t even gotten a chance to know him and she already lost him.  

“What do you know about destiny, my little star?”  Queen Sylva asked her youngest child as she gently brushed her hair.

In truth, Stella didn’t know much about destiny.  She knew that Lunafreya had mentioned it a couple of times when she was teaching Stella about the Astrals.

Sylva took her silence as an answer.  “Destiny, my love, is the path in which we are meant to walk.  As royals, our destiny, if followed, will safeguard the future of our people.”  She continued to brush Stella’s hair.

“Do we all have a destiny, mother?”

“Not everyone.  But that doesn’t make them any less special in the eyes of the Astrals.”

Stella wasn’t sure if she was only getting more confused or if it was starting to make sense.  “But what about our family?”

“We’re royals, sweet one.  We are always bound by destiny.  Ravus will one day be the king of Tenebrae.  Lunafreya will inherit the Oracle’s power…”

Stella turned so that she was facing her mother.  “And what of my destiny?”

Sylva smiled down at her youngest child and gently pushed her bangs from her face before running her hand down her cheek.  “You, my love, will be queen of Lucis.”

If Stella wasn’t confused before, she was now.  “Queen of Lucis?  But…how…?”

“When the time is right you will marry Prince Noctis.  And you will be his queen.”

Stella scrunched her face.  “But mother, I don’t know Prince Noctis.  How can I be his queen when I don’t love him?”

Sylva sighed.  As much as it pained her, her daughter needed to learn the truth eventually.  “Do you remember the attack from Niflheim four years ago?  They would’ve killed us all that day.  Me, your brother, your sister, even you, little one.  But we stopped them, with the help of the Lucians.  We learned that night that only together will we be safe from the Empire’s wrath.”

“But what does that have to do with me…”

“When you marry the Prince, you will combine two great nations.  Our combined strength will protect us and our people from Niflheim.  Destiny is never easy, love.  But we must think of our people before ourselves.”

Stella suddenly knew why Luna would sometimes stare out into the distance with a sad look on her face.  Destiny was a heavy burden.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stella was thirteen when she learned that loving Prince Noctis could still be possible, even from afar.

She sat in Luna’s room and looked at the object her sister had just placed in her hands.  It was a brown leather journal with a golden design of sylleblossoms on it.  “A notebook?”

Luna nodded.  “This notebook has been passed between Noctis and I for quite a number of years now.”  Stella’s eyes widened in surprise.  “Umbra and Pryna here,” she paused to pet one of the dogs on her bed.  “Have been taking it back forth for us, completely undetected by the Empire.”

Stella looked back at the notebook.  Such a simple thing that kept two friends together.  “But…why…?”

Luna shrugged.  “Because Noctis is still a friend.  I wanted to make sure he was alright.”   _Figures_ , thought Stella.  Luna was always the motherly type, keeping an eye and taking care of everyone.  “But now I give it to you, sweet sister.  I know destiny is a heavy burden and that you will most likely not want to marry someone you’ve never even spoken to.  So take this.  Write to Noctis.  Get to know him.  So that when you do meet, you will see a friend in him rather than a stranger.”

Stella looked at the notebook in her hands and opened it to the next blank page.  This was her chance.  She could get to know the person she was meant to share her life with.  She looked back up at Luna.  “I’m not quite sure what to say.”

Luna let out a light chuckle.  “How about your name for starters?”  Stella could only nod as she continued to look at the blank page.  “I’ll leave you to it then.”  With that, she got up and let her sister come to terms with this new communicating system.

Stella’s staring was broken when she felt Pryna nudge her leg and drop a pen in her lap.  She took a deep breath and lifted the pen to the paper.  

_Hello Prince Noctis.  My name is Stella Nox Fleuret._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stella was eighteen when she first met Prince Noctis.  And they got into a fight.

It was a misunderstanding.  A city located between Tenebrae and Lucis was being attacked by the Empire so both nations had sent in reinforcements.  Because she was eighteen and she had been trained to fight, she was allowed to join the soldiers.

Most of the fighting had been quelled and the empire was retreating.  Stella was supposed to help the wounded and the cleanup.  Last minute, she noticed the Niflheim general retreating.  No one noticed him leaving.  In what Ravus would call one of her random acts of stupidity, she followed him.

Stella tried to keep up with him but he was too fast but right when she thought she was finally close enough for an attack, she heard someone yell.  “Hey!”

She turned around and noticed a man wearing all black.  He looked no older than her.  He must’ve been a soldier.  And the way he looked at her in anger…he must’ve been Niflheim.

Without even a moment of hesitation, she called upon her magic and brandished her sword.  The soldier did the same and she was surprised to see that he also new how to use magic.  It didn’t matter.  She held her stance and moved to attack.  And he did the same.

The battle must’ve ended in a draw or something because she barely remembered it.  When she woke up, she was back in Tenebrae in one of the hospital wings.  Luna had fallen asleep in a chair beside her bed but Ravus stood on the foot of her bed staring at her with a glare on his face and his arms crossed.  Ravus was still only five years into his reign as King of Tenebrae and he didn’t need the added problems that Stella might’ve just caused.

He broke it to her then that the man she mistook for a Niflheim soldier…was actually Prince Noctis.  And now he had to figure out how to fix her mistake and make sure she didn’t just start a war with Lucis.

The next day, Umbra came back with her notebook from Noctis.  She gulped, afraid of what he would say.  They could be at war with Lucis or he could’ve broken off their engagement or maybe he just all out hated her.

She opened up to the last written page and smiled when she read what he had written.

_I’m sorry.  I didn’t know._

It seems that Noctis had mistaken her for a Niflheim soldier as well since she was so closely following the general.

He had written something else on the bottom of the page that made her heart skip a beat.

_You’re beautiful._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Stella was twenty when she finally met her future husband.

For the first time in twelve years, she was allowed to leave Tenebrae.  The royal family would be visiting Lucis in celebration of the coming peace.  Which was basically code for her coming nuptials with the prince.

There was a celebration the first night they had arrived.  But she still hadn’t met the prince.  She did meet King Regis who she was surprised she still remembered.  He had aged quite a lot in the twelve years since she last saw him.  But war and the power of the crystal that she had been told about would do that to you.  But he was kind to her and her family and made her feel less nervous.  If he was to be her father-in-law, then perhaps she could find a home there in Lucis.

When the welcoming party was in full swing, Stella took a breather on one of the higher levels.  Everything was getting overwhelming for her.  Guest after guest would greet her and talk about how she would be their queen and the heirs she would provide and it had gotten too overwhelming.  She hadn’t even met Noctis yet!

It was nice and calm where she was.  And it provided a wonderful view of Insomnia.  She had to admit, of what she had seen of Insomnia it was beautiful.  It was a bit more technological in its design compared to Tenebrae, but something about it gave the city more character.  She was so focused on her thoughts of Lucis and Insomnia that she almost didn’t notice that someone had joined her.

Stella turned to face the new person who stared at her intently.  Even after two years, she recognized him instantly.  “Prince Noctis…”


End file.
